Countdown!
by Gamerwhogames
Summary: To celebrate the countdown to Season Two of Minecraft: Story Mode, I'll strive to write a oneshot commemorating each episode of Season One. Enjoy these anecdotes inspired by the first eight episodes, and enjoy the memories!
1. What Happened at BoomTown

**So, I learned about this thing going around Tumblr and some other sites called "Countdown to 2". In it, fandom participants are to write or art something that has to do with an episode from season 1. Yesterday was episode one, and today's episode two. I missed yesterday's upload because I just figured out about Countdown today, so I'll start with episode two, Assembly Required! I'm not sure I'll be commemorating all the episodes, but I know that I know that I KNOW I'm going to be doing episode 5 (it's my favorite episode!). So, grab your popcorn, or sunflower seeds, and enjoy the story! Hit it, Crisper!**

 **Crisper: (hits it)**

* * *

Midlife crisis was an unfamiliar term for Jesse. He had plenty of adventures and chases under his belt, and many more to look forward to (being fifty was by no means stopping him). Even today held some kind of adventure. Maybe it wasn't going to be as fast-paced as running from killers with axes or finding a chest filled with strange, ancient treasures unknown to man, but it was good to be alive and involved. A smile creeped across his face as he blinked his eyes open and sat up on his bed. He had a habit of waking up with a smile, one he didn't hope to break anytime soon. He got straight out of bed and went downstairs to the kitchen where he saw Axel, Olivia and Petra rummaging around for some breakfast. He lived with them in a house for five. It wasn't their old treehouse, but it often felt like it was.

"G'morning, Jesse." Petra greeted with her slightly scratchy morning-voice.

"Hey," he said, walking over to the table where he was two little girls, about seven and eight, sitting at the table for some breakfast. Jesse noticed that they looked similar to Olivia. Where they related? When they looked up and saw him, they instantly beamed, excited to be meeting the famous Jesse.

"Hi, Jesse!" They both shouted, waving like there was no tomorrow. "I'm Shaniqua!"

"And I'm Tasha. We're Olivia's cousins," she pointed to Olivia who was in the kitchen, pouring a bowl of cereal. Jesse looked to her for an explanation.

"Something came up, so they have to be here just for the day. You don't mind, do you?" She asked, getting a chorus of 'of course not's and 'we love visitors' from the others. Jesse turned back to the girls and smiled.

"I know you. Sometimes when Olivia comes over for the holidays, she talks about you." Tasha said as-a-matter-of-factly.

"Does she?"

"Yeah, a lot." Shaniqua answered. "Could you tell us a story?"

"How about how you're king of BoomTown?"

"Really, girls!" Olivia scolded sisterly, rushing over to them with a cup of coffee. "Leave him alone. He just woke up, and now you're bombarding him like fangirls. Give him some time to breathe," she said, setting the coffee in front of Jesse.

"It's really alright, Liv," he said, taking a sip of the black coffee. It was piping hot and very strong, just the way he liked it. "I'm not _that_ tired." He said, idly scratching at his stubbled chin. He didn't have a beard as thick as Ivor's, but the thin growth of reddish-brown hair around his chin suddenly seemed fitting to him one day, and he kept it since. It was a minor change that he enjoyed.

"That was a great day." Axel said, sitting across the table from him with some toast and a jar of Nutella. "You ever think of dropping by there any?"

"Where? BoomTown?"

"Yeah. You're still king, you know."

"Really?" Tasha beamed.

"Eh, they probably forgot about me. I'm sure they've gotten someone else, too. Can't be king-less for that long."

"Are you kidding? No one could forget that day, or you." Axel argued, slathering a large helping of the hazelnut onto his toast.

"That is _so_ cool. You're, like, king of something. That's really sweet!" Shaniqua chided, making Jesse grin weakly.

"You should tell them how you actually _became_ king," he turned to Shaniqua and Tasha with an eager grin, "It'll knock your socks off!"

"Yeah! Tell us!"

"Why don't you tell them, Axel?" Jesse asked, staring at his coffee as if he was bored by the subject.

"It's your story, dude." Axel said. Jesse gave a weary sigh that made the two girls beam, and then grinned, starting to jog his memory on that eventful day.

"So, Axel, Olivia, Lukas and I had just found the Order Temple after spending the night in a dirt-hut."

"Why'd you have to build a dirt-hut?" Shaniqua asked.

"Well, we were on the run from the Witherstorm. It was nighttime, so we needed a place to stay. We were _going_ to build a treehouse, but we decided that would take too long. The next day, we went straight to do what Gabriel told us, find the rest of the Order. After a bit of planning, Axel and I decided to go find Magnus the Griefer while Olivia went to look for Ellegaard the Redstone Engineer. It took us a little trouble to get to Boomtown—"

"Why?" Tasha asked.

"We had to take a trip through the Nether on this crazy minecart-system!" Axel blurted before Jesse could answer. "And we had to fight a Ghast, but Jesse handled it pretty well. Remember?"

"I'm still trying to forget." He said tersely, making Axel chuckle. "Anyways, we ended up getting through to Boomtown."

"Man, that place was fun."

"No, Axel. I think 'crazy' is the word you were looking for just now." Olivia said from the kitchen.

"How do you know? You weren't even there."

"One look at Magnus could tell you." She said.

"Magnus is awesome."

"And crazy."

"It was fun _and_ crazy, okay?" Jesse laughed, his mind going back to that day full of dodging eggs and bombs and flying people. Creepers were the least of his concerns that day. "Have you ever seen a Creeper blow up?"

"Yeah, on the nature channel sometimes." Tasha said with a nod.

"Well, imagine that, but with people instead! Right when Axel and I got into the city, we were on the run. There were people everywhere, throwing TNT at each other and rotten eggs! Actually, looking back it was kind of on the crazier side, Axel."

"Pfft, that's just your opinion. If we were going by fact, we'd say it was awesome!"

"Yeah, sure. Anyways, when we got to the city, we tried asking if anyone knew where we could find Magnus. It was kind of hard considering the fact that everyone around us was trying to blow each other up. So, I pulled out the amulet to see if we could find him."

"The amulet had colors on it that would light up whenever one of the Order members was near. Magnus was the green one." Axel explained.

"The green was really bright, so we knew he was near, but that's when some of the other griefers saw it, too! All of them wanted to find Magnus so that one of them could be the king of BoomTown."

"What happens next?"

"Right after they saw the green lighting up, all of them tried taking the amulet from us! And one of them almost did! She ran off with it, so Axel and I had to chase after her! She and her buddies were really fast and good at jumping over stuff, and we had to chase them on the tops of buildings, too!"

"Wait, you mean you were running on top of tall _buildings?!"_ Shaniqua asked with disbelief. Jesse and Axel nodded, smiling proudly. Both girls let out long, shocked 'wow's, marveling at how brave and strong these two men sitting in front of them were.

"I fell and hit my head, too. But I had to get right back up! If those griefers got away from us, who knows what could've happened! It took some running and jumping, but I finally caught up to the two who'd stolen the amulet. Turns out they were friends. So, they were in this little hut arguing over who got to keep the amulet, and that was the perfect opportunity! There was a hole in the shack big enough for me to stick my hand into, so I reached right in and grabbed it just like that!"

"Cool! And then did you go to find Magnus?"

"Not yet. Because right after I got it, they put out some TNT to blow me up!"

"Oh my gosh! Did you live?!" Tasha asked. Jesse paused, giving her an amused look. He and Axel briefly exchanged glances and snickered.

"Of course, I lived." He finally answered. Tasha gave a relieved sigh and sank back into her chair. "You know, if this story's getting to be too much for you two, I could stop." Jesse said smoothly and teasingly.

"What? No! I want to hear the rest!" She shouted, suddenly perking up.

"Me, too!"

"Yeah, Jesse." Petra said. Jesse glanced around the table, seeing that Olivia and Petra had taken a seat and were listening too. "It's just good to hear this story again."

"Well, alright. If you insist," he drawled. He took a second to remember where he was in the story. "Oh, right! So, they put TNT out to blow me up. I barely had a second to jump onto another part of the roof and get going again! It took a while, but I finally found Axel right in front of Magnus's castle." He looked down clicked his tongue, tapping his head a few times. "Can't remember how we got rid of all those griefers, though."

"Didn't we use eggs or something?"

"No, I think that was earlier… oh well. We were standing outside of Magnus's castle, and saw these two stone doors. I thought we needed to knock, so that's what we did. And then, we fell!"

"How did you fall?!"

"Through some trapdoors in the floor. They were painted to look just like the castle so we wouldn't be able to see them." Axel answered. "Guess where we fell."

"Um… Magnus's house?" Tasha said timidly.

"Yep! Except it had more of a lair-vibe to it."

"It gave a whole new meaning to that game 'The floor is lava'." Jesse added.

"I'll say! Well, Jesse and I saw Magnus! He didn't really want us there, but we knew we needed to get him to come back with us to the temple to get to saving the world! He had these really cool traps that would drop us into the lava if he found something about us that he didn't like. He wanted to know why we came there and all, so we told him everything. Like how there was a Witherstorm, and that Gabriel sent us—"

"It was a good thing we had that amulet."

"I know! It only took us a few minutes to convince him we needed his help, and we were ready to go!"

" _Almost_. Magnus knew that he couldn't just leave BoomTown, since he was their king. So, he needed a reason to leave, like someone else becoming king! And that's where I came in."

"Yeah! Jesse had to play this game called the Death Bowl. It's how the griefers in BoomTown pick their king. Two griefers grief each other until one of them falls off his tower. The last man standing becomes king!"

"Well, I wasn't supposed to _actually_ play in the Death Bowl. We were supposed to fake it. But halfway through the games, Magnus started getting serious. Wanted to blow me up. I guess he forgot our "grand plan". He'd built this huge skeleton canon, with mountains of TNT on it, too! I would've been a goner if Axel hadn't gotten me some of that stuff in those chests."

"Yeah, I got him a bow and some arrows. Hey, didn't you make your tower out of pink cotton?" He asked. Snickers fell across the room and Jesse blushed a bit.

"In my defense, I thought we were going to fake it!" He shouted.

"It's not _that_ bad!" Petra laughed. "It kind of adds to the fact that you survived that!"

"He barely had a block left afterwards!" Axel shouted.

"It _was_ pretty impressive. So, what happened was that I shot an arrow at Magnus's TNT. He had so much of it, that it ended up blowing up his entire tower!" He got a collective 'whoa' from both girls, and smiles across the entire table. "And _that's_ how I became king of BoomTown."

"That is _so cool!"_

"Yeah, it was. Anyways, after I became king, we had to rush out, because the Witherstorm found us. We made it back to the temple though. Lukas had really built the place up. Petra showed up too, and Olivia came back with Ellegaard. Magnus and Ellegaard weren't so happy to see each other, but we all ended up getting along."

"Lukas fixed the temple?" Shaniqua asked. Jesse's smile faded the slightest bit.

"Yeah. He really was a great builder." He said, glancing across the room where they had a small picture of him. The room seemed to go solemnly quiet and Jesse sighed. "It's not the same without him." He added. The girls' countenance seemed to drop, and they slightly hung their heads. But they both flinched when they heard a door swing open. Out of the hall and down the stairs marched a sleepy, angry blonde, glaring right at Jesse.

"Seriously, Jesse!" Lukas shouted as the others, except Jesse, snickered. "Every time you tell this story, you make people think I'm dead! Why?!"

"It's funny. Besides, you sleep in so late it almost feels like it." Jesse said, finally giving way to laughter. Lukas groaned, playfully rolling his eyes as he made his way to the kitchen. That was another thing Jesse liked so much about telling this story.

* * *

 **So, there you have it folks! Day two of Countdown! Well, I've gotta rush because I'm s'posed to be in bed. This story was written in one day with no post-editing, so I'm sorry if that first paragraph doesn't match the rest. Hehe, gotta get in bed before my mom kills me. This felt kind of weird typing up, since it was mostly dialogue. I'm used to writing a mixture of actions and dialogue, so I hope this wasn't boring for you guys.**

 **Just so you know, these oneshots won't all be Jesse telling a story. There's supposed to be a different style per shot, so don't leave if you found this one dissatisfying. Hang around!**

 **See yah! And thanks for reading! Leave a review, favorite and follow! I'm planning on doing some more countdown episodes, so stay tuned! Close it, Crisper!**

 **Crisper: (closes it)**


	2. The Gift of Song

**Hey, guys! And welcome to chapter two of COUNTDOWN! Today, we take a little trip to the End to see Soren among his Enderfriends. Today's inspiration comes from episode 3, and that infamous song of Soren's that was sadly interrupted by a notorious blonde. Who's not dead. Hehe… well, here we go with some reviews!**

 **Ariza Luca: Ha! Thanks for reading it and then reviewing!**

 **RapidSammi: Yep. I imagine the characters to be at least twenty, in their thirties at the highest, meaning that it's been about thirty years since episode 8 in that one. Ha, good times. For some weird reason, I like writing about the men of the Order having facial hair. Maybe it's just a fangirl thing.**

 **Raintag: Hehe, I'll try! I hope it was more humorous to you than frightening.**

 **Well, day three, everyone! Hit it, Crisper!**

 **Crisper: (hits it)**

* * *

The sky was black and spattered with stars, so Soren always kept a clock close by. Here in the End, he didn't awaken to a rooster's crow or the rising sun. Instead, it was an alarm-clock's chime. This time, the clock chimed in his favorite time of the day: Outdoor Enderman Study. And like every day spent in the End, it found him outside among the lanky, jet-black mobs with bright, purple eyes, except this time something seemed wrong.

Even though he was wearing his sturdy, new-and-improved Ender-suit, complete with leg- and arm-stalks, he felt unsafe. Almost like someone was watching him. He had nothing but his hands to defend himself; he couldn't imagine bringing a sword down on one of the Endermen. They were his friends! But that didn't exempt him from occasional feelings of unease. His eyes searched the hundreds or so Endermen, trying to find something that stood out to him. He was determined to find what was making him feel so uneasy. He scanned the area a few minutes more, and that's when he found it. Rather, heard it. It began as a low rumble that slowly grew into the familiar, anguished cry of an agitated Enderman. He barely caught a glimpse of a black stalk rushing towards him and Soren knew he needed to run! He spun on his stalks, but too quickly and plummeted to the ground with a splintering crack. He rolled over and groaned at the sight of a broken stalk. He tried to scramble away in an awkward crawl, but when he looked up, he knew it was too late.

The Enderman glared at him, eyes aglow with rage, and screamed at him. Soren's arm flew up to his face to shield himself, but small, strong hands pulled it away as the screaming died down. He forced himself to look into the Enderman's eyes and instantly breathed a sigh of relief.

 _Oh, hello, Gary,_ Soren thought, grinning weakly underneath the Enderman mask as he looked at the mob's tag. He'd tagged every single one of his Endermen, and there were hundreds over them. But one man's insanity was just another architect's diligence. He placed the nearly invisible tags on their arms, a place where he'd easily see it. Gary clicked, seeing the familiar human's eyes grow soft again. But just as quickly he turned away and walked off, suddenly disinterested in Soren since he was back to normal. Soren pulled the stalks off his legs and quickly followed Gary. When he felt he was being followed, Gary suddenly turned around to stare Soren down. Soren grinned again. The Endermen's fascination with him never failed to please. It was like the same swell of pride a pet-owner felt when his dog barked and sniffed, so surprised and happy to be with him. But these were no pets. These were friends.

Gary suddenly disappeared, leaving behind a spray of purple Ender-magic. Before Soren could turn around, he felt those same strong paws push him lightly. He spun around but was only met with those same purple particles. Behind him he heard a loud _vrrp_ and turned to see Gary, staring down as if nothing happened. Was Gary… playing with him? One side of Soren wanted to rush inside and write about this fantastic miracle, or even go as far as running back to the Overworld to tell someone! But the playful, loving side of him wanted to stand there and let the magic happen. He'd always be able to write about it later, and why would he tell anyone back there? Would anyone believe him, or even remember him? Gary disappeared again, this time giving Soren a harder thwack to the head. Soren faceplanted and lay there, awestruck and just struck. Two black stalks appeared before his eyes.

Gary watched Soren closely, starting to wonder if he'd killed the man. He gently kicked Soren in the cheek, making small Ender-noises when he sat up, his eyes squinted. Did he make him mad? Gary clicked again, blinked a few times and was off.

Soren sighed, standing up and dusting himself off. With Gary gone, he had little to do now. It felt so good to see Gary's new behavior. _Playing with the Endermen_ …. That sounded like a new study he was going to begin. Speaking of study, he began to wonder how the Endermen were doing with their latest "building project": A letter 'x'. He walked to another part of the End-fields, where he'd constructed a platform for building. He walked towards it and looked it over. Nothing still. A flash of pink caught his eye and he looked to see an Enderman carrying one of the five blocks of pink-clay he'd set out for the project. The Enderman idled about, staring at the block as if it was some amusing trinket. Occasionally, it would lift it up, swaying it around like a child playing with a toy airplane. Soren quickly read its tag. Sallie.

He rushed up to her, watching her with the block. She turned around and looked at him, as if asking 'Have you seen my block today?' Soren glanced at the pile of clay blocks over to the side and grabbed one. He felt somewhat guilty for giving her a hint to the "puzzle", but he knew it wasn't cheating if he didn't show the full answer. Nothing a head-start would damage. _Look, Sallie. Watch this._ He thought, knowing very well not to speak out loud while around the Endermen. It had taken them a while to get used to a human present in their world, and Soren didn't want to push his luck again and start talking. Luckily, he thought, it was only three of them who heard him.

He walked to the three-by-three platform and glanced at Sallie. Sure enough, she was paying close attention, wondering what Soren was going to do with his block. Why couldn't he just hold it like a regular Enderman? Holding things was fun! Putting them down was boring. Blocks were fun for cuddling, too. She watched Soren place his block in the middle of the grid. She glanced at her own block, then at his, then hers, then his.

Soren felt like he was on the edge of a steep ledge as Sallie processed the new information. If Gary had played with him, surely he'd be lucky enough to have the Endermen complete a project. Sallie seemed to understand, or was at least _trying_ to. This was golden!

Sallie felt strange as Soren stared at her, his eyes occasionally going for her block. Did he want it? This was _her_ block! He put his down, and that was on him. Sally clicked angrily and walked off, holding her block tightly. This Enderman was strange. He didn't seem to understand that blocks were meant to be cherished and held, not abandoned on the ground! If any other strange Endermen wanted to take her block, he was going to hear it from her! She teleported to stand right next to the purple glass of Soren's study. No one would bother her there, she hoped.

Soren's heart faltered just a bit when she left, but he'd partially expected it. He glanced around the End, seeing his Enderfriends "enjoying" their lives. He thought about how he knew each and every one of them by name, er, tag. Every single one of them. They were like people to him, each with their own defining quirks and unique clicking patterns. To any other person, they all looked and sounded the same, but not to him. After spending so much time among them, they weren't a group of mobs. They were individuals.

Soren tapped his foot on the ground, silently humming a tune that suddenly sprang into him. Before he knew it, he was snapping along, a new song being created in his mind. He'd written many of them, what with endless free-time and plenty of inspiration from this strange place. He thought about Gary, Sallie and all of his friends from this place, and the words began to flow. Suddenly, he lost his appetite for studying, for the time being, anyways. As he raced back to his study, he realized that he was glad to be giving back to his tall friends after all the new information, priceless presence and lasting friendship they'd given him. He swung the doors open and raced up the stairs to his music room.

Outside, Gary walked over to Sallie, who was still hanging onto her cuddle-buddy block. He glanced at it, and she pulled it away, warning him not to come any closer.

"Just looking." He said in his low, guttural voice. He looked at the purple glass, seeing nothing but that. Endermen couldn't see through glass, and the whole of them only saw a thick, purple screen. "Isn't he a weird one?"

"That's for sure. He's one of the strangest Endermen I've ever seen in my life!" She said, not taking her eyes off her block. "I wonder what he does in that strange place." The sound of cheery singing reached their ears and they hissed with annoyance. "Sounds _horrible_."

"Poor guy doesn't even make good Enderman calls." They listened a moment longer. "Well, at least he's fun to hang out with." He said.

"Yeah, and he doesn't make those terrible calls out here. They must be loud since we can hear them past that screen." She tuned her ears, trying to ignore Soren's singing and focus on the piano itself. "I like the other tunes, though. They sound pretty."

"Maybe he'll bring out the special sound-block tomorrow and we can listen. I like his songs, but not his calls."

"I wish he'd teach us music." She said wistfully.

"Maybe if he'd stop bringing us these pink blocks, he would." Gary said, starting to walk off. He stopped to turn around. "Why does he like these pink blocks anyways? They aren't as cool as the green pricklies or the blue, sparkly ones."

Sallie studied her pink block and smiled. "Maybe he just really likes them, like I do."

Inside, Soren smiled at the staff-paper in front of his piano, where he'd just finished writing his latest tune. He hoped his friends would like it. They seemed to have an odd fascination with his music, even though they seemed to hate singing. Maybe they'd changed their minds over the months. Nevertheless, they'd given Soren the gift of friendship. Now Soren was going to give them the gift of song.

* * *

 **Haha! Chapter two! And without the stress of my mom wanting me to go to bed (Toni, if you're reading this, I can now relate to that stress).**

 **Did anyone know who Sallie was talking about when she didn't want another strange Enderman taking her block? Let me know!**

 **Besides the dialogue between Sallie and Gary at the end, I tried to keep this mostly down to action and thought, because Endermen are known to be action-driven, (usually) quiet creatures. So, I wanted the story to be the same way. Just an artistic approach (that was probably defeated by the end dialogue).**

 **Depending on what time I get home tomorrow, we may or may not have one for that tragic day known as episode 4. Hopefully, I completely forget. JK, but really. I can't remember. Did Reuben and Magnus/Ellie die in episode 4? Or did Magnus/Ellie die in** _ **this**_ **episode? Either way, I might commemorate on both deaths. I dunno. Well, thanks for reading and reviewing, guys! And don't forget to follow and favorite! Countdown's just beginning!**


	3. Welcome to Heaven

**It's 8:32 as I type this. Bedtime is coming soon. But this chapter will come sooner. But not before I reply to these reviews!**

 **Ariza Luca: So glad you got the Enderman reference! Writing two Endermen with personalities was pretty fun a thing to do… hmmm… sounds like a good topic. And, yeah, some people don't review chapters. It's very understandable, though, and I'm very grateful for the feedback I** _ **do**_ **get.**

 **Guest: Thanks! Man, I haven't played these episodes in so long. I can't believe I forgot.**

 **Well, here's to day four! It's a somber story I have tonight, so just tap it, Crisper. Tap it with care.**

 **Crisper: (taps it with care)**

* * *

For starters, this grass was the greenest grass Reuben had ever seen. He sniffed curiously at it before giving the too-blue sky a skeptical stare. Where was he, exactly? How did he get here? He began to walk around the great, green meadow, spotted with lightly colored flowers. Every now and then, he'd see a tree leaning over a crisp, clear pond with water that looked too drinkable to be true. In this world, everything seemed overly-beautiful, almost surreal like he was in a dream.

As he ran, he heard a small jingling tune following him. He stopped with a start and craned his head to look at his neck, where he barely saw the golden sheen of a jingle bell tied around his neck with soft, white ribbon. He shook his head furiously, thoroughly enjoying the beautiful sound it created. It reminded him of Christmas, his favorite time of the year. When he was finished listening to his bell, he faced his surroundings with more joy than critical thought, romping around in the grass and tasting the delicious flowers. Being a pig had its perks!

He finished off a patch of his now-favorite pink-flowers. The yellow and white ones were divine, but there was something about the pink flowers that he really enjoyed. He ignored the whites and yellows, sniffing around for more of the pinks when he found himself digging his snout into white cloth. His head jerked up in surprise, and he let out a loud squeal of joy! Jesse was sleeping in the grass, along with Olivia, Axel, Petra and Lukas, his best friends! First, he circled around them, more like a puppy than a piggy, simply overjoyed. It felt just like the first time he'd eaten those delicious pink flowers! He bounced onto Jesse, wetting up the boy's face with his cool snout. He vaguely remembered Jesse liking this sort of thing in the morning. It helped wake him up. Except, this time it didn't work.

He sat up and gave a questioning oink. He glanced over at his other friends who slept peacefully. He walked over to Axel and nudged him with his snout a few times. Nothing. He didn't even bother trying the girls. Besides, Olivia thought pig-slobber was gross. He wouldn't want her to be upset when she woke up. Whenever she was going to wake up. But Reuben couldn't find himself feeling downed about his friends' deep slumber. Instead, he found himself only hoping for the day when they'd awaken.

"Oh, hey, kiddo!" Came an oddly familiar voice from behind. The young pig turned around with a wide smile, happy to greet the man. He knelt down to pet Reuben's fuzzy head, and Reuben sniffed his hand. "Hey, buddy. Remember me?" He asked. Reuben looked him over, seeing his white vest and bow. But the white bandanna stood out to him the most. "Hmm, didn't expect you of all people to be up here so soon. Wonder what happened down there…." He glanced at Reuben's sleeping friends, then back at Reuben. "Well, I guess I should show you around, even though I'm still pretty new to this. Let's go." With that, he rose to his feet and walked off.

Reuben was tempted to follow him, but what about Jesse? He turned to face his friend, expecting to feel wistfully sad. He did. It wouldn't be the same playing in this new place without Jesse there to hand him carrots or lose at a tickle fight. But he didn't feel too sad. Something in him kept reminding him that one day, Jesse was going to wake up. They' be together again. He smiled, trotting alongside the man as they left the meadow. "Oh," he said, stopping to look Reuben in the eye. A smile curled across his lips. "Welcome to heaven, Reuben."

It didn't take long for him to show Reuben heaven. Being immortal made long-distance travel a very easy and comfortable thing. It took Reuben a bit of time to get used to it, but after five years, he had it all down. Heaven had more than enough goodness to offer, even better than the pink flowers. Carrots were a thing of his past and the cuisine alone was enough to make him want to stay. In heaven, grief didn't seem to exist, or any bad emotion for that matter. Nothing seemed to go wrong, either. It was just day after day of being himself, enjoying life and eating great food! He couldn't wait for Jesse to wake up, but even that didn't bother him. It couldn't. Up here, Reuben was untouchable.

And it would be like that for seventy-five years.

Like he'd do any other day, Reuben ate from a golden platter of his favorite pink flowers for breakfast, laying peacefully in the coziest bed he'd ever been in. Each day, it felt just a tad plushier than before, and he enjoyed it almost as much as he enjoyed his swimming times. The door to his perfect home opened, and standing in it he saw his white-bandanaed friend standing there. But his usual smile wasn't the same. It seemed cheerier! Excitement flurried all the way to Reuben's floppy ears as he sprang to his feet, almost forgetting his breakfast.

"Hey, kid. There's something I really think you should see! But we've gotta be quick about it!" He said. Reuben rushed to his side and they both ran out of the massive, Grecian build they called home and heaven, back to the meadows where it all began. Reuben was distracted in the least by the familiar flowers, and he wondered if they were possibly tastier in their natural form. But before he could eat anything, his friend grabbed his attention. "Shorty, look! It's happening!" Reuben looked where he was pointing, and everything slowed to a heart-pounding freeze. "I'll leave you to it." And with that, he walked away.

Reuben stared at Jesse's body, which he hadn't seen in nearly a decade. It looked exactly the same as it had been, as if time had frozen for him, too. Except one defining thing: he was shifting in his sleep. Reuben leapt onto Jesse's chest, staring into his face like a cat marveling her reflection in a mirror. Jesse moved under him, stretching his arm. His mouth widened and he let out a yawn, his eyes slowly blinking open. Reuben suddenly remembered that Jesse liked to be licked in the face, but he was too surprised to do it. And when Jesse opened his eyes, he was just as awestruck.

"Reuben!" Jesse grabbed his friend under his forelegs, raising him high into the air like a prized child. Reuben squealed, happier than he'd ever been before. Heaven was going to get interesting….

Tears of joy streamed from Jesse's eyes as he laughed and sobbed uncontrollably. He brought Reuben back to his chest, rolling over and hugging his best friend like there wasn't a tomorrow. In the back of his mind, he remembered that something went missing for a very long time, something that left him feeling empty on dark nights when he needed a cuddle-buddy or whenever he passed by a waterfall. But sorrow wasn't a ruling emotion in the least. It was the joy of being fulfilled again that reigned supreme! And so, pig and owner were reunited.

Reuben was right when he said heaven was going to get interesting. Showing Jesse around was only the beginning. Now Reuben had someone to enjoy the food and amazing sights with! Watching Jesse try to fly (he couldn't) was a highlight he wouldn't forget. Having been there for seventy-five years, Reuben knew a thing or two about how the afterlife worked, and he was going to show Jesse everything he needed to know so that when he went to the meadows seventy-five years later, Jesse could teach the person who woke up next how to do things.

But they'd be visiting that meadow in three days.

Sometimes, when a man's wife dies, he dies within days, sometimes hours. If stress was ever a killer, we know where grief of lost love stands. But no one ever said something like that could never happen to two best friends. And in three days, grief claimed Lukas's life. Or, more so, gave it over to happiness and peace. When he woke up, he was confused at first, but that was simply erased when he was reunited with his friend, Jesse. They explored heaven together for the next three years, as if they were adventurers back in the Overworld. Except, there weren't any killers or tough choices to be made. Just new, beautiful, amazing things to see and do. Life was officially perfect.

A few years passed, and they were joined by Petra who lived a long, fruitful life on the earth before it became just too much. She was glad to be getting away now. Later, Axel and Olivia entered heaven in their sleep. But in heaven, there wasn't any talk about how sad it was for them to die. In heaven, death was merely a gateway to a better life. Yes, on earth there was much mourning between these tightly-knitted friends. They just wouldn't be human to act as if they weren't hurt by such loss. But deep down, they knew they'd be seeing each other again, some in three days, some in three years. But none of that mattered in heaven. All they knew was this:

They were together. Everything was perfect, just as it should be. And it was going to be like this forever and ever.

" _For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." ~John 3:16_

 _Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." ~John 14:6_

" _But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus." ~1 Thessalonians 4:13-14_

* * *

 **So, there you have it, folks! Episode four, but with added hope. I know it hurts to grieve, but I know that grieving won't last forever, and we'll see our loved ones again in heaven one day. Keep your hope, friends! Well, it's almost bedtime for me, so I think I'll hit the hay. Tune in next time for some crazy episode 5 stuff. I have no idea what I have planned then, but stick around! I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I'm hoping to go on the more humorous side with that.**

 **As for episodes 6-8, I'm sure I'll do them. Maybe I'll skim over some DanTDM or play them myself to jog my memory. Honestly, I only remember the events of episodes 1, 4, and 5 (my favorite). I remember lots about episodes 7 and 8, too, but I still could be forgetting something. Episode 6 is mainly a blur of diamond axes and sand-traps. Oh, and cat lovers, zombies, interrogations and such… nope. Just got a great idea for episode 6. Definitely hang around. Well, cya! Close it, Crisper!**

 **Crisper: (closes it)**


	4. I am Reginald, and I Speak for the Trees

**Ah! Night four, episode 5! What's ironic about this is that I've got something planned for every episode except this one, my favorite. Hmph. Well, let's get onto it. I'm back from "Camp in the City", an outreach camp at my church. I'm tired, cold and wet, but my throat is having a bonfire. Swell. My glands are doing just that. Ha! Well, now that we have a cute status update, let's hear some reviews! Maybe that'll chase away this writer's block!**

 **TealEmpress: Glad this update made your day and all. It was refreshing for me to write, too. Thanks!**

 **RapidSammi: It was, wasn't it? Well, if there's anything I want you to take from it, it's hope. Have some hope!**

 **Ariza Luca: Yes, it was. Glad you like it!**

 **: It took Jesse 75 years to come to Reuben, but it actually took Lukas 3 days. He died of grief. But like I told RapidSammi, I don't want you to leave with just sadness. I also want to give hope!**

 **Well, looking back, I said I had no idea what I had planned, and I also said I'd hope to be more humorous. So, I racked my brains and here you are! This is a mixture of episode 5 inspiration, and a reference from Toni42's "Movie Mode". We all know Reginald to be the loving, loyal Captain of the Guard. But we have to remember that every hero has humble beginnings, and Reginald used to guard a tree. An important tree, mind you, but a tree. You know what to do, Crisper.**

 **Crisper: Okie! (hits it)**

* * *

Everything has a humble beginning, regardless of how important it is now. Remember, Jesse was a loser before he ever became leader of the New Order. The Old Order themselves were the same way, even with their fall of pride. And Sky City used to be a wooden castle on a huge floating island, only with a single tree. It was early in the history of Sky City, before it sported a massive palace of precious materials and a large population, and before Reginald was captain of the guard. Right now, he was just someone protecting a very important someone: the Founder. There was no guard to even lead at this point: It was just him and a few others. Years passed, and the buildings somehow became more elaborate. They only heard fleeting rumors of the magic of the Eversource, but saw its results. The population grew as well (through spawning, mind you) and in a short ten years, Sky City was nearing its prime. The royal guard, as it was later called, had grown from three to fifty in that time, though jobs were few. Most of them only stood guard in front of the palace, a job they saw as boring. One'd be lucky to get to work at a post, making sure everyone on the list got to use the furnace or the crafting grid that day. Only the highly elite stood beside Isa's throne throughout the day. But for now, Reginald was standing outside, literally watching life pass him by. It had been like this for a very long time, and he was bored, yet used to the job. But something amazing happened that day. Something that changed his life forever.

Isa remembered a tree.

It was the tree in the middle of the city, the tree that dropped the saplings for every tree in the entirety of Sky City, if they stood with leaves or completed a flight of stairs. After ten years, the Founder decided it was time that tree got the respect it deserved, and she officiated its existence as a monument. It would be the city's pride and joy, close in status to the Eversource itself. She decided that something of such importance would need to be guarded by the very best, and the decision was made without a doubt.

When Isa sent for Reginald during his shift, he thought he'd die. He nervously paced down the hall to her throne room, a fellow guard escorting him.

"Do you think I did anything wrong, Benjamin?" He asked.

"Hmm… I don't think so. From what I can tell, she's pretty happy with you as a guard and all. I'm actually a bit jealous." He said with a friendly smirk. Before Reginald could question him on that, he found himself standing in the throne room of the Founder herself.

"Hello, Miss Founder." He stammered with a quick bow, suddenly unsure of how to address her. He looked to her attentively, awaiting her command.

"Reginald," she began, "I am pleased to inform you that you are being promoted." She paused to let the words sink in, and Reginald tried to be professional about his emotions. "There is a tree in the center of our grand city. As you know, this tree I speak of is the one that has provided all the wood and trees we have today. It is a very special tree that needs very special care, and I want you to guard that tree. Make sure no one does anything at all that could bring it harm."

"O-oh! Your wish is my command, Miss Founder!" He stuttered excitedly, giving another fast, nervous bow. "When do I," he cleared his throat and blinked a few eyes, returning his giddy face into a more conserved one. "When would you like me to start?"

"Right now." She said, almost amused at his attempts to seem more sophisticated. She knew very well how excited he was about the new duty, and valued it.

He wasn't captain of the guard yet, but as Reginald stood underneath the shade of the Great Tree, he felt like the man of the hour. It wasn't every day a guard was promoted, much less to guard the world's most important tree, and he did not take this responsibility lightly. The time to celebrate would come later. But now was the time to protect this marvel of nature, keeping it safe from all hurt, harm and danger. Reginald was ready. The fluttering of a bird's wings caught his attention, and he rushed to the other side of a tree where a white-feathered bird took a perch. The way it dug its sharp, long claws into the tree's delicate, beautiful bark made him furious. How dare that bird!

"Go! Get away from here! Shoo!" He shouted, shooing it away with his hands. The frightened bird screeched as it fluttered away. _Good riddance,_ Reginald thought. But just as he began to relax, the tree released a painful groan, which in reality was a gentle creak. He raced to the other side, not breaking a sweat, and saw a lazy hooligan nearly bending the tree sideways. To other eyes, it was just a man taking a rest in the shade, but Reginald saw a hooligan destroying a sacred treasure, and he couldn't stand that. He cleared his throat loudly, catching the man's attention. He paled a bit, uncomfortable with this unexpected confrontation.

"D-did I do anything wrong, sir?"

"Yes. Can't you rest somewhere else? You're hurting this tree." He said. The man instantly straightened, his eyes darting towards the tree like it was a stolen treasure placed in his grasp.

"Oh! I had no idea! I'll just be going!" He scurried to his feet and rushed off. Guilt whispered in Reginald's ears as the man disappeared into the crowd. He hadn't quite meant to scare him off like that. But he _was_ hurting the tree. He needed a way to keep people away from it was all. He looked the tree over, checking for any abrasions or nicks. When he didn't find any, he took a few steps back to look it over in whole. No birds in sight, or lazy hooligans weighing it down. Perfect. Until a few children came by to play. His stomach curdled anxiously as they scurried around it, engrossed in a game of tag that he hoped would either go somewhere else or end.

"Ha-ha! You can't catch me!" One shouted as he began to climb the tree. Reginald jolted into action, his hat nearly flying off in the process. He scooped the child off the tree before anyone, including himself, could utter a word.

"You can't climb that tree!" He shouted in a frenzy.

"Why not?" He asked.

"Yeah, why not?" The other of the three children asked.

"It's a very important tree, so we can't do anything to hurt or break it."

"But I can't break a tree. I'm too small."

"And you _won't_ break this tree, because you won't _climb_ this tree. Can't you children go play somewhere else? Or why don't you climb the stairs?"

"Stairs are boring. Like my parents."

"Well, stairs can also be fun. But fun stairs or boring stairs, you can _not_ climb this tree, and that's final." He declared. The three defeated kids trudged off to the boring stairs, but Reginald stood his ground in victory. No one said this job would be clean-cut and easy, and he'd have to be okay with that. He surveyed the tree for birds, hooligans and mischievous children for the next few hours. The sun hung in the sky, but the cool wind kept the temperature bearable. Everything was quiet as far as the tree's troubles. No one approached it at all, and Reginald was beginning to think that word of his promotion had spread around. But he mistook the calm before the thunderstorm as an easy day at work. Who knew Sky City was overrun with literal tree-huggers?

They came wearing loose, unkempt clothing, as long and flowing as their messy hair. Reginald had no idea who the fifteen or so of them were, or why they were assembling, but he knew to be wary of them with their laid-back smiles and strange vernacular. But 'wary' wasn't what he felt when he realized what the zombie-like group of young adults was plodding towards: The Great Tree.

"This tree is righteous!" One of them, presumably the leader, shouted. And in a long flash of wavy, golden hair, he wrapped his arms around the tree.

"Hey!" Reginald yelled, trying to rush over to the strange man. "What are you—get off of that—" Within seconds, the tree was surrounded with true love, but dangerous, strong arms. This time, Reginald was right to turn queasy at the loud creaking of the tree. "GET OFF OF THE GREAT TREE!"

"Braaah, you, like, need to totally chill, brah." One of them said from inside the huge group hug.

"My name is _Reginald_!" He fussed indignantly. "Everyone, you have ten seconds to let go of that tree!"

"But it, like, needs love, not war!" A girl drawled.

"There's going to _be_ a war if you don't—" His strong voice was drowned out by a chorus of hippies singing the word 'love'. No one in Sky City knew what was going on. There. The author has said it. The hidden population of tree-hugging hippies had finally come to the light. Reginald knew the Founder would not be pleased. Meanwhile, it'd be the perfect cover-up for the Secret Build Club that was assembling as Reginald spoke, er, glared. The tree groaned again, and Reginald's eyes popped when he saw the huge plant leaning even more. That 'love' was going to destroy the tree! And the Founder's heart! How furious would she be when she found out that Reginald had failed his job within hours? Hours?! What was he going to do?

A shade of green caught his eye, and he turned and saw a sickly birch-tree, waiting wistfully near another building, and an idea popped into his head. He quickly ran around so that he was standing in front of the group of tree-huggers. The Great Tree cracked again, and he hoped his plan would work. He cleared his throat one last time before yelling at the top of his lungs.

"I am Reginald, and I speak for the trees!" His unusual declaration caught the attention of everyone in the city, even the tree-huggers. He breathed a sigh of relief when they stopped their tree-hugging to face him. "The trees say 'Stop! Look at that tree!" he pointed to the birch-tree, "It needs some love! Lots of it! Go hug it, or something!" And then he waited. The tree-huggers exchanged glances among one another, wondering what to do. Reginald felt like he was standing on the tips of his toes with anticipation. Would the tree-huggers continue to destroy a national monument? Or would they go and show love to a tree that needed it? The great tree was _bending_ for the second option.

Reginald held back a cry of joy when the herd of lovers corralled around the small birch, enrapturing it with a love that knocked it clean over. When he saw the Great Tree, he sighed with relief. There wasn't too much damage done to it. Only a few cracks that would heal over the week, he hoped. He'd have to make a petition for a fence and a gate to keep unwanted visitors out, too. But nevertheless, it was a job well done. He knew the Founder would be proud. Maybe he'd become Captain of the Guard someday, but that was just a thought.

But for now, he is Reginald. And he speaks for the trees.

* * *

 **So, there you have it! Night four, episode 5! Sorry if it wasn't as funny as you were hoping. These chapters are planned and written so close to the deadline I don't know what to say. All of it was typed in real-time with no post-editing. I'm typing this author's note as I think of it in my head. Things are moving pretty fast up here.**

 **So, the reference comes from Toni42's edition of episode 5 part one. One of the characters makes a joke about Reginald guarding a tree. So, I played on it a bit. Trust me, if I had the time, I'd play a lot more with this. Maybe I'll do a one-shot revamp in the future, but for now this will have to do. Hope you enjoyed it!**

 **Well, see you tomorrow for episode 6! I think you're going to like it. I don't intend for it to be humorous, though. More on the interesting 'What if' side. Well, see you then! Close it, Crisper!**

 **Crisper: (closes it)**


	5. Betrayal

**Haha! The day I've been waiting for since yesterday!**

 **(how climactic)**

 **But seriously. I've been anticipating this since my episode-four-update, soo… that's worth mentioning, isn't it? And now for the big spill: Remember how Jesse had to investigate Dan, Stampy and (I think) LDShadowlady? Might've been Lizzie, but I can't remember. Anyways, I was watching DanTDM's playthrough (how funny), and I was soo ready for Jesse to interrogate Lukas! But he didn't. I wasn't too upset, but I always wondered what that'd be like. So, here we are! Countdown to 2 is more promising than I first thought. But before we get to the touchy, suspenseful questioning, let's hear some wonderful reviews!**

 **sailor . mikuchan (had to edit your name so it'd show up on-site): Oh, no problemo!**

 **Raintag: You and the other reviewers are making me blush with these compliments (if I could blush, as dark-skinned as I am)! Thank you!**

 **Ariza Luca: Can I say the same thing about these reviews? Thanks!**

 **Shadow who Speaks: Thank you for both of your kind reviews! Yes, that's a Lorax reference. I love the Lorax memes and the movie, so I decided to add some references. Reginald guarding a thumbtack, hmm? He'd have a heart-atTACK if someone tried to touch it. Here's to Adorably Stressed Reginald! And for your review on chapter 3, I'm glad you liked my incorporation of Scripture. I wonder what heaven's like, too. But I'm not in a rush to figure out, if you know what I mean xD.**

 **I have little recollection of the questions Jesse asked everyone, and I don't quite have timeWell, hit it, Crisper!**

 **Crisper: (hits it)**

* * *

Two people had died gruesome deaths that day, and now Lukas was sitting in a room with suspected murderers as a suspected murderer awaiting his interrogation. Lukas was not having a very good day. He'd tried sitting down to calm his frayed nerves, but every time he did he found himself standing up again, pacing silently around the room while Ivor watched with growing annoyance.

"Oh, would you sit down, blondie? You're going to be fine! We all know you're not the murderer, for crying out loud!"

"Or _do_ we?" Cassie sneered from behind, glaring venomously at Lukas. "For all I care, _anyone_ could be the murderer!"

"And that's what's bothering me. I know I'm not the murderer; I just don't want to be a victim."

"Yeah, sure you aren't. Let's act scared and nervous so _no one_ suspects a thing." She drawled. Lukas nearly flinched when he heard the door swing open, followed shortly by footsteps. They all looked and saw Petra escorting a nervous, blabbering Stampy out of the room.

"See? Told you I wasn't the murderer. I wouldn't do anything like—"

"Just shut up, Stampy!" Petra's outburst silenced and surprised the room, especially Lukas. He noticed her pale face and hardened scowl as she pushed Stampy aside. She looked at Lukas, a mixture of anger and sorrow in her black eyes. Lukas didn't know what to say.

"Well, let's get this on with! We won't know who the murderer is if we don't interrogate the suspects!" Cassie shouted, grabbing Lukas by the arm to drag him in.

"Hey! Let go of me!" Lukas shouted, trying to free himself.

"Hey, let him go!" Petra shouted, grabbing her sword handle just in case.

"But it's only fair that he be interrogated, too." Cassie spat, not quite ready to let go.

"She is right. He's a suspect, too." Stampy added, still wringing at his fingers and yellow jacket. Petra hung her head and gave a small sigh.

"I know that." She walked over to Lukas and gently took his arm. Lukas followed, confusion and anxiety clouding his vision.

"He's not seriously going to interrogate me, is he?" Lukas whispered. Petra didn't answer. "You don't really think I murdered anyone, right?"

"I know, I know. I'm sure it wasn't you, but…." She trailed off as she pushed the doors open. Instead of walking in herself, she just gestured for Lukas to go in. She wasn't going to watch this on her life. Lukas cautiously stepped inside and tried to relax when he saw Jesse, front facing the fire.

"Hey, Jesse."

"Hello, Lukas." His voice was a bit better than dry ice, cold and smoky. The knot in Lukas's stomach grew and his face momentarily paled. "Sit down."

Lukas forced himself to sit still in the small, wooden chair. He felt his pulse hammering in his neck and wrists and realized he was silently panting. "This is so crazy, isn't it?" He joked, trying to soften the mood with some humor. But Jesse's face only hardened. He forced a soft chuckle and continued, "I hope this isn't going to be a normal thing, is it? Running from murderers and what."

"I do hope so, Lukas." He said coolly.

"You don't think I—"

"Lukas, I don't know what to think. That's why you're here." Jesse's words drove straight in and stabbed Lukas at the heart. He felt bile rising in his throat, but instead a single word croaked out.

"What?" Lukas studied Jesse's face, trying to find even a hint of the pain he felt. But he only saw two insensitive eyes staring back at him, waiting for him to pull himself back together. Lukas put on a strong face, squaring his shoulders and sitting up. "I didn't press that button, Jesse. I swear."

"I don't know that."

"What do you _mean_ you don't know that?! You should know I wouldn't kill two people over something we already have! Look," he quieted himself, "we've been through a lot together, and you should know that I," his voice quavered, "I don't _kill_ people."

Jesse released a sigh, one more so hinted with displeasure than bemoaning. "I'll say it again. I don't know that. Just because we've been on a few adventures together, that doesn't mean I know you inside and out. Yes, it's been a heck of a lot! But that's it."

Lukas slumped in his chair. Jesse's words knocked the wind out of him and the air stuck in his lungs. His eyes shone and flickered in the fireplace's flames, but Jesse didn't waver. "So, how would you rate your Redstone skills?" Lukas looked down and murmured something Jesse couldn't understand. "Lukas," his tone sounded impatient.

"I said 'zero', Jesse!" He shouted, still staring at his feet.

"Lukas, you need to calm down."

"Oh, _I_ need to calm down? You're accusing me, your friend, of murder, but I need to calm down?!" He yelled, shooting to his feet. He stared at Jesse, unable to keep the tears from streaming down his red cheeks.

"Just sit down so we can get this over with." Jesse commanded with a callous glare. His voice was quiet, but Lukas heard it so clearly. Lukas accepted that Jesse stood immovable and slowly sank into his seat, his eyes fixed on his shoes once again. "Now, do you know anything about tipped arrows, Lukas?"

"Well, if you really want to know, yes. I do. I know that they kill people who go by the name of TorqueDawg, but that's pretty much it. Before tonight, I haven't even seen one!" He snapped. "Why are you doing this? Do you _really_ think I'd go about killing people I _just met_?"

"I'm the one asking the questions here." Jesse casually strode to the fireplace, staring into its flames. The pitter-patter of the rain outside reached Lukas's ears, trying to take him to a better place in his mind. It took him to a place where the walls were made of dirt, and a fireplace was in the middle of the five of them, Jesse, Olivia, Axel, Reuben and himself. It was the night Jesse extended him a token of their friendship: a cookie. Reuben was alive. Lukas was finding new friends. A white flash tore him out of his thoughts and thunder suddenly snarled outside. The walls were lined with bookshelves, and the fireplace's heat was making him uncomfortably sweaty. Olivia and Axel were nowhere to be seen. Reuben was dead. And Jesse thought he was a murderer.

"So, who do you think stole the flint-and-steel, Lukas?"

"I don't know." He muttered defeatedly.

"Do _you_ want it? Would you kill for it?"

"No." He shuddered. It felt less and less like he was in the room with Jesse. He was sitting in the presence of a cold and callous stranger. "Jesse, would you _please_ tell my why you're doing this to me?" Jesse didn't turn around to face Lukas. He stared into the fire, acting as if he hadn't heard him. "Jesse, please." He begged, wanting an explanation for the knife-like pains in his heart.

The chocolate-haired boy gave a gloomy sigh and slowly turned to face him. The change of emotion caught Lukas's attention, but he didn't have the strength to straighten his back. "Before you met me and the others, you were with the Ocelots for a really long time. I hate to say this, but… well, you and… Aiden seemed pretty close, and we all know what _he_ did, and," Jesse trailed off when he saw Lukas's face contort with anguish, his blue eyes glossier than before.

"You think…." He stared at Jesse with disbelief, unable to finish. He held back his sobs.

"It makes sense." Jesse concluded, unmoved by the blonde's tears. "Lukas, we need to get back to the interrogation." He said after a few minutes, but Lukas couldn't even bring himself to look up. He stifled his crying, his fists clenched and red.

"Fine." He spat quietly. Jesse turned back to the fire, using his sword to poke around at the flaming logs. Every now and then, he'd gently poke at a tiny stick, but the surrounding area would burst with new flame. If only he knew how enflamed his simple questions made Lukas burn.

Lukas heard him sheathe his sword and turn around. "You know what? I think that's enough questioning for one day. You're excused."

Lukas took a moment to find the strength to stand. When he did, sorrow threatened to drag him back into his seat. The tears burned his eyes and blurred his vision even though they streamed down his face. Each sob he held back ached in his chest and choked him as he stormed out of the room. Outside, he raced past a confused and worried Petra and down an unfamiliar hall. The voices of pain and betrayal were so loud in his ears he couldn't hear Petra yelling his name as she raced after him. He found a door and swung it open to a dark, small closet. He rammed himself in and slammed the door shut. Heartache and darkness enshrouded him and he slid down the wall. He could barely hear his own sobs. Time dragged along with every gasp for air, and after a while his crying ended. His head pulsed as he coughed and hiccupped in the darkness.

Maybe real friends just wasn't something life had to offer Lukas. Just like with Aiden, Gill and Maya, being friends with Jesse and his gang was pleasing and refreshing. Especially after his first friends left, Lukas found his bonds with Jesse growing stronger, and at times he felt they were inseparable. Jesse wasn't going to leave them like they did, he'd think. And after surviving a world-wide tragedy and then being thrown off a floating island by a "friend", Lukas figured he'd been well acquainted with Jesse. But Lukas was either doomed to short-lived highs or none of his friendships were real. They started out as promising, but all of them turned sour. Jesse ripped those bonds apart, one heartstring at a time, if they even existed. With the way Jesse chopped away at Lukas's heart as if it were a mere apple, it didn't seem so. If they did, Jesse wouldn't have done any of this. Jesse was kind to his friends. Lukas was just an Ocelot.

And possibly a murderer.

 **And there you have it! Episode 6 takes a wrong turn. So, was it emotional enough? I feel like it's possibly shallow. I didn't have any time to think about any of this because deadlines, deadlines, FREAKING DEADLINES. I am** _ **super annoyed**_ **right now with this dumb bedtime-curfew. Honestly, I'm upset with this. I feel like I could've taken it a bit further. After "Countdown!", there's a possibility I'll be rewriting a few of these to make them better if they need. As for this, I'm either 100% right or completely overreacting. I'm prolly overreacting. Well, above all, thank you for reading and staying in touch with this story! I'll see you tomorrow! Close it, Crisper!**

 **Crisper: (closes it)**


	6. Headaches

**Hey, everyone! And welcome back to "Countdown!" Today, instead of some angsty stuff (like Lukas's betrayal, ouch!), let's have some redeeming cuties! This lil' lovely takes place in, drumroll, please—**

 **Crisper: (drumrolls with pencils on buttons-desk)**

 **Episode 7, Hours after Lukas is released from the grasp of PAMA. Remember how she said she felt like her head was on fire? Good. But before we get started, how about some R and R (reviews and response, of course!)**

 **Raintag: Good grief, that sounds terrible! I don't even know what to say….**

 **Ariza Luca: He sure was.**

 **TealEmpress: No! Child, take the Heartglue! As for Jesse's behavior, I have this headcanon where Lukas doesn't feel fully assimilated into the group since he used to be an Ocelot. Everyone thinks that after the Blaze Rods formed, Lukas was 100% friends with Jesse. I have other thoughts. No doubt there was still tension between them, especially with Axel. I imagine that Petra's the most accepting of the group since she knew him before, with Jesse and Olivia coming in second. But sometimes Lukas feels like he's there because Jesse wanted to be nice, a double-standard of selflessness. It's the same way I feel about the "relationships" I have outside the house. I have no friends, so whenever I'm part of a group (if I'm lucky, it lasts about a day), I imagine it's because people think 'People will think I'm rude if I don't adopt this silent child', even though I'm as good as nonexistent in the group.**

 **LostSoul508: Is it weird you want to see this as a fic? Not. At. All. In fact, that's very encouraging!**

 **If I'm not too busy (what a hilarious joke), I might be able to play on these oneshots more. Fanfiction-wise, I've got some things planned (finishing "Elevator" and then rewriting ANFO are just a few), so I'll see if I can make time. Well, enough chitter-chatter. Let's get real, Crisper!**

 **Crisper: (gets real)**

* * *

Even though PAMA was defeated and she and Lukas had been freed from its grasp, a cloud of disappointment still hung over Petra as she sat on a bed next to Lukas.

"Don't be so upset, Petra." Jesse said as he stood at the door. "We're just going to find some materials to rebuild the portal home. That's it. You and Lukas just need to stay here and rest your heads. Literally."

"Yes," Ivor commented from outside, "That robot nearly fried your brains! You should be exhausted right now!" He squinted accusingly, stroking his beard in thought. "In fact, you shouldn't even be talking."

"I'm not talking." Lukas said with a raised hand. Petra glanced at him. Exhaustion thoroughly weighted every aspect of his appearance, including his hair! It was as if he and the floor were magnets. Petra caught herself in a stare and looked away.

Harper shuffled in front of Ivor, her eyes to the floor and hands bashfully together. "Once again, I'm very sorry about all of this." She spoke. Through his pain, Lukas smiled the best he could.

"It's alright, Harper. I'm pretty sure you didn't mean for any of this to happen."

"Yeah." Jesse added, turning to face her. "Once you get us home, you'll be able to come back here and make things right. I'm pretty sure everyone will be forgiving soon." Harper flashed a weak, hopeful grin at them as Jesse reached for the doorknob. "We'll be back as soon as we can. Stay put."

"Will do." Petra said. Jesse shut the door and she breathed a tired sigh. She peeled off her helmet and let it fall to the floor, followed by the rest of her heavy armor. The weary way Lukas took off his leather jacket made it seem like it weighed as much as a full suit of gold. He dropped it on the wooden floor and slumped on the bed with a drowsy sigh. "Tired?" She asked, though she knew the answer.

"Yes!" He drawled. He rubbed his temples and forehead with both hands. "My head's on fire."

"What are you thinking about?"

"PAMA, being connected to a computer… some more PAMA."

"I thought so. It was the same way with me. Whenever I thought about it, my headache got worse. Just try to think about something else, _anything_ else." She advised. Lukas chuckled softly, his hands sliding to his sides.

"Kind of hard to." He admitted.

"Just go to sleep then." She stood from the bed. "I'm feeling a lot better, so you get the bed."

"Thanks, but as tired as I am, I can't sleep. It's weird, isn't it? After everything that happened today, I—" He suddenly stopped, hissing softly as he rubbed his head.

"Try to focus on something else."

"Got it."

Petra glanced around the room with orange, clay walls with a few pictures here and there. Besides the bed, there were only a few chests, a crafting grid and a table for two. Which meant there was probably a kitchen nearby. She located a door which she assumed lead to that particular room. "I'm gonna get us some water. I'm parched."

"Me too. I'm gonna look at these paintings to… you know." Petra walked into the other room. The "kitchen" was very small, crowded with chests for holding food and two furnaces stacked on top of each other. Squeezed between the chests and the furnaces was a rusty looking sink. She opened the chest and found a few glass cups which were cleaner than she'd expected. She grabbed two and reached for the sink spigot. She tried to turn it, but the stubborn handle didn't budge and only dug into her hand. She persisted only a few seconds before giving up. After taking a moment to let the stinging pain ebb from her palm, she reached for it again. But just as her finger touched the rusty steel, she heard an ailing groan from the other room and then a loud smack that made her stomach shift.

She nearly ran into the door as she dashed out of the kitchen, dropping the glass cups to the floor. She stopped in the living room and her face twisted. Lukas sprawled on his back across the floor. Petra rushed and slid to her knees beside him. Her hand instinctively went for his neck, checking him for a pulse. Even though she felt it, she still held her breath. "Lukas? Lukas, wake up!" She pleaded, moving her hands across his frame to shake him awake. He didn't stir. She quickly rose to her feet and paced to the windows. Outside, the moon illuminated the dusty roads, and there wasn't a person to be seen. Jesse and the others were probably too far to reach by now, and she didn't trust any of these strangers, if there was a stranger outside to trust. She rushed to Lukas and thrust her hands under his armpits. His lean frame was deceptive of his weight, and the effort it took to haul him to the bed made her already-hurting head pound harder. She finally managed to pull his torso onto the bed, and then she pushed his legs on. She shook him gently again and called his name a few times, but it was no use.

She tried to imagine what Ivor would do in a situation like this. He'd spout a few sour comments and reach into his pockets for some potion he could use. Petra knew from the start she had no potions. Potion-less Ivor was a foreign term to her. Who would Ivor be without them? She thought a bit more and finally decided that in this situation, Ivor would've likely done a physical exam. She placed a hand on Lukas's forehead and frowned. She was no doctor, but she knew what a fever felt like. She pulled away and wiped the sweat on her shirt. She walked back to the kitchen, pulling off her blue bandana. She sent the sink a glare that said 'Try me', and reached for the spigot. She'd probably loosened it before, because just one hard twist and water spouted out of the faucet. She placed her bandana under it. She instantly snatched her hand away when the hot water splattered all over it and the cloth. Crown Mesa had been out of order for who knew how long, and the water wasn't going to be fresh. She let it continue to run and hoped for the best. When she put her hand under it again, it was still warm, but thankfully not scalding hot. It would have to do. She wet up her bandana and then squeezed it out. When she left the kitchen, she let the faucet run, hoping the water would be cool next time around. She cautiously placed it over Lukas's forehead. She sat beside the bed and tried not to worry.

When she looked out the window again, she saw the moon had switched positions in the sky. Had it really been that long? A soft whimper reached her ear and she spun around. Lukas's heavy lids slid open and his groggy hands moved to his face.

"Lukas?"

He blinked his eyes open, surprised by both her voice and the wet cloth on his face. He barely turned to give her a questioning look. "What happened? Is this your bandana?" He tried to peel it off, but Petra gently held it to her face.

"Yes. Just hold still, okay?"

"Why do I need it?"

"You fainted, and you have a fever. How do you feel?"

"Weak… really weak… and my head still hurts. About not being able to sleep? I feel like I could do that."

"Oh, um… actually—"

"You want the bed?" He asked, starting to sit up.

"No! No, lie down." She said, gently pushing down on his chest. He leaned back slightly, propping himself up on his elbows.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," she said, pressing firmly until he was flat on his back. "I was going to tell say you couldn't go to sleep. I think I'm supposed to keep you up for about an hour to make sure nothing else happens."

"Oh, right…." He stared at the ceiling for a few moments, occasionally glancing at the back of Petra's red hair. "Um, you wanna talk or something? It's kind of boring just sitting—er, lying here."

"Okay. What do you want to talk about?"

"Uh… how about… Jesse's out with the others getting stuff for the portal, right? Then we'll all be able to go home?"

"Yeah."

"Then let's talk about that. Going home." There was a pause as they thought about what to talk about. Lukas tilted his head up, glancing at Petra. The room seemed to tilt and spin as dizziness set in. "I feel kind of… Petra, are you sure you don't want the bed?"

"Lukas, do you remember where you are?" She asked, sensing his loopiness. He looked around the room, the cogs in his brain starting to turn.

"Um… aren't we at a house in… what was it called… something about Mesa? Wasn't PAMA here, too?"

"No! Lukas, remember what I said."

"Oh! Right, right. Yeah, we were talking about going home and… yeah. What're you gonna do when you get home, Petra?"

"Besides sleeping all day? Nothing." She smiled when Lukas chuckled softly.

After the sweet moment of humor was gone, Lukas frowned solemnly. "I have no idea what I'm gonna do. Since the Ocelots are gone, things are gonna be a lot different for me."

"Well, you could always hang out with us!" Petra said as she turned around, kneeling at the side of the bed and gazing into his blue eyes. "I'm sure Jesse and them wouldn't mind at all. I'd love it!"

"That's sweet." He grinned.

"I'm serious, Lukas." In that moment, Petra suddenly realized how close her face was to Lukas's. "I mean," color spread across her cheeks as she inched back. "It'd be nice to have you around." She glanced at Lukas and saw that he was looking away, slightly blushing as well.

"Yeah… like I said… sounds sweet." He muttered. Their eyes met again, and he grinned. She smiled back, avoiding his eyes. "Maybe I'll take a shower, you know."

Petra laughed, and so did he. "Me too. Why didn't I think about that?"

"People want different things, I guess. You want to sleep, and I want to stop smelling like a gym." He and Petra shared another laugh. "Yeah, so, what are you going to do after your naps?"

"Hang out with you, I guess."

"Yeah, sounds good. Hanging out with the guys after all this should be fun."

"I know, but I was kind of talking about just… you. It's been a while since it was just you and I doing something quiet together."

"P-Petra, I don't think we've _ever_ done anything quiet together. I was, um… you know, always with the guys whenever I was with you, so…."

Petra's face fell the slightest. "Oh."

"Do you… _want_ to start… hanging out alone?" He asked nervously. Petra's eyes popped, and she instantly looked away.

"I don't know." Her eyes snagged on the window, and she saw the moon in its slow crawl across the sky. "It's getting late. You should probably get to sleep now."

"Right. Yeah." He shifted on the bed into a more comfortable position. Petra lay on the hard, wooden floor. By now, she was used to "beds" like this, and a headache wasn't going to keep her from sleep. She glanced up at Lukas from the floor, and his eyes met hers. "Goodnight, Petra."

"G'night Lukas."

They both lay in silence for a few moments, occasionally shuffling around. Petra's thoughts wandered down a dusty road filled with chipped-zombies, and her head started to hurt again. She rolled over and stared at the ceiling, trying to keep herself in the present. She felt the cool wood under her fingers.

"Petra?"

"Yes, Lukas?"

"I really can't sleep. And I can't stop thinking about it either."

"Try to find something in the room, something boring, and think about that. Hopefully, you'll bore yourself to sleep."

"Or I can just think about Redstone." The instant he made the Olivia-related joke, he regretted it when images of blood-red eyes and Redstone-powered chips flashed past his mind's eye, and he tensed as his headache suddenly worsened. "Bad joke." He grunted with clenched fists and teeth. Thoughts about PAMA, the Redstone Heart and those dreaded chips came through his mind like a huge freight-train rolling downhill, uncontrollable and destructive. A firestorm exploded in his head and he groaned in pain and wrapped his hands around his head. "That was a _really_ bad joke!" He shouted, making Petra jerk up.

"Lukas!" Her heart seemed to hiccup when she saw him writhing in bed. "Oh my gosh, what do I do?" She whispered to herself, feeling stupid as she sat helplessly. She stood to her feet and stood over him, trying to hold him still. "Lukas! Lukas, calm down, okay? Hold still! You're probably making it worse!" She blubbered as she tried to weigh down his arms. He seemed to relax just slightly, but she could feel the hardness in his tensed muscles. She felt him trembling, either from the pain itself or chills. Soft whimpering reached her ears and when she forced herself to look at him again, she saw tears streaming through his tightly shut eyes. Or was that sweat? He was much warmer than when she last checked. His ragged breaths and groans curdled her stomach. "Lukas, just… try to think about something else, okay?" She tried to keep her familiar coolness about the situation, like she'd done so many times before. It was just a headache, wasn't it? He'd live for sure. Wouldn't he?

"I can't. It hurts too much." He said, his voice all but cracking. "This is the worst headache ever."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry." She knew she was running out of things to say, and she was too conscious of it. "You want me to get you some water?"

"No. I don't think that would—GAAH!" He hugged his head tighter, doubling over. Petra forced herself to let him writhe again for a moment before gently pressing on his chest. He flopped back onto the bed, panting heavily. "I don't think that would help any." He sighed wearily. His face was covered with sweat and anguish. Petra glanced at the floor, unable to hold the sight. Lukas glanced at her, catching a glimpse at a single tear. The energy was drained from his body, both from PAMA's recent control over him, and his current throes, but he managed to feebly take her hand in his. "Petra, I'm gonna be okay. It hurts, but I'll be fine. It's just a really bad headache."

She nodded, a few more tears falling down. She forced herself to look at his dripping face and pink eyes. "Just try to get some sleep, okay? I'll try to keep quiet. Maybe tomorrow," he trailed off, his eyelids sliding open and shut in a fight to stay awake.

"Lukas?" She lightly shook him. She barely saw his eyes roll back before his lids closed, and she gasped in fear. "Lukas, wake up!" She shouted, shaking his frame, but like before it was no use. He remained unconscious, not even a whimper from him. Shock held Petra stock-still, staring at Lukas's body as quietly as a deer. His chest barely rose and fell. She slowly sank to her knees, studying his face. But it wasn't sorrow that made her kneel. She soon learned it was exhaustion. She reached out and ran her hand through his blonde hair, ignoring the sweat that stuck to her forearm. She shuddered, not wanting sleep to overtake her. She needed to stay awake if Lukas needed her.

She blinked and it was morning time.

In seconds, she remembered the hard night and sat up. Lukas lay there on the bed, eyes still closed. She sat up and shook him, gently of course. Worsening his headache was not on her to-do list today. She flinched when he suddenly grasped at her hands in self-defense, his blue eyes shooting open. He visibly relaxed, letting go of her hands, when he saw her familiar, stunned face.

"Oh, it's just you." He sat up in bed with much ease, and stretched his arms. "I'm exhausted!" He said as he did, completely unaware of Petra's stunned expression.

"How do you feel?"

"Besides tired?... uh, normal, I guess. Wh—" Before he could finish his question, she threw herself around him in a strong embrace.

"Oh my gosh, you freaked the hell out of me, Lukas!"

"Whoa, language!" He scolded playfully as he slowly hugged her back. "Um… how did I freak you out?" He asked. Petra pulled away, staring at him with disbelief. "Um… did I say something wrong, or—"

"Do you remember anything that happened last night?"

"I remember my head hurting, but how did that freak you out? I went to sleep right after Jesse left." He hesitated. "Didn't I?"

Petra gave a weary sigh, but then smiled at him. "It's not worth bothering if you're okay." She said, pulling him into another hug. Lukas grinned and hugged again. Petra reached around and stroked the back of his blonde hair, and Lukas stiffened and pulled away. "Um… I do think I remember something, but it happened around midnight, but… were you… playing with my hair last night?"

Petra remembered how she fell asleep with her hand in his hair and blushed softly. "Um… probably." She shrugged with her laid-back grin and Lukas chuckled.

"It's okay. Just wondering." He grinned. She hugged him again, pushing him back some. They sat on the bed in their tight embrace for a few moments. "Um… so, are we just going to hug all day?" He whispered.

"Well… we could, if you want?"

"Is your head feeling better?"

"Yeah. And yours?"

"Yep. Wanna try to find Jesse, then?" Petra smiled.

"Nah. I'd rather… hang out alone." With her chin on her shoulder, she didn't see the way his eyes widened and his cheeks went pink, but she could feel the rise in his temperature. That wasn't a fever.

"Sounds… good, then."

* * *

 **So, there you have it! Episode 7! Plents (plenty) more lighthearted, even with the anguish in the middle, but hopefully, it was overall redeeming! One final episode, guys, and then we'll move on to season 2.**

 **I know, I know, this got finished at 1:28 in the morning. But here's the thing: It still counts because I'm adorable! You wouldn't take a win from an adorable fangirl, would you? I'm beautiful! Absolutely fantastic! And great at things. So… yeah! xD**

 **So, if you read it, I'm thinking about rewriting ANFO. It needs a fresh start, in my opinion. I'm planning on tossing the whole thing (except for the first chapter. That stays up). Just had to get that out of my system. Don't worry, though.**

 **Well, close it, Crisper!**

 **Crisper: (closes it)**


	7. Finale

**I have seconds left (I wrote this AN after the end-AN), so let's just hit the reviews! (just a side-note: for extra funnies, read in fast-motion)**

 **Ariza Luca: Thanks! I enjoyed writing it!**

 **LostSoul508: Finale! Take it!**

 **Raintag: Yes! Friends! A chapter well-done it was, thank you! Read!**

 **Some of these oneshots may be revisited if I have time. They'll be published together in a different book, so stay tuned! Finale! Season Two's tomorrow! Read it!**

 **Crisper: (reads it)**

* * *

The sweet smell of vanilla cake drifted towards Jesse's nose, but he was too tired to enjoy it. When he, Lukas and Ivor made it home, they'd never in a million years be able to match the energy and excitement Olivia and Axel had for their return. Or never in a million naps. After briefly chatting about their adventures, they resolved to head over to their newly rebuilt treehouse (a huge gift from a zealous, skilled fan) for some cake and storytelling. They sat, stood and slouched in the kitchen where the cake baked in the oven. Axel and Lukas shared a can of icing while the others chatted.

"I'm just so glad to see you guys!" Olivia squealed for the umpteenth time. Jesse had lost count of the times she'd said that, and his sheep. "So, what did you guys do? Where were you?"

"Yeah! We looked all over for you for days!" Axel added.

"Well, remember the flint and steel?" Jesse asked with a yawn. "Turns out, there was a portal in the temple, so we had to, um… go in, you know?" Jesse briefly glanced at Lukas, who stuck close to Petra's side. He hoped Lukas still wasn't angry or sad about the fate of his old friends. Did he even consider them friends? Jesse didn't see a good point in asking, at least for now. Best to let the sleeping Blaze Rods lie.

"What happened to the Blaze Rods, anyways?" Axel asked. Right on queue. Jesse saw Lukas wince.

"Rotting in jail as we speak." Ivor said before Jesse could tell them to shut up.

"Jail?! What happened?" Olivia shouted. Right now, it felt like Jesse and Petra were the only ones considering how Lukas felt about his former-friends. At the mention of them 'rotting in jail', he frowned and looked at his feet as if he was hiding a shameful secret.

"You know what? Why don't we talk about something else?" Petra asked, part-suggesting and part-demanding on penalty of death.

"Nah, I wanna talk about this." Axel said, completely oblivious to her tone.

"That punk managed to steal our flint-and-steel, and he was about to steal the Eversource, too! Luckily, we managed to stop him before any real damage was done." He said proudly. Jesse and Petra exchanged glances, inwardly sighing in relief since Ivor hadn't gone into details. Ivor stroked his beard in thought, making the two nervous. "Hmm… well, besides trying to kill Jesse, Lukas and the Founder and then literally burning an entire island to the ground."

"Wait! Aiden did _what?!"_ Olivia shouted.

"Those tools!" Axel barked, clenching his fists and teeth in rage. His eyes met with Jesse's, and the short, chocolate-haired boy loudly cleared his throat before jutting his head at Lukas as subtly as possible. Axel glanced at Lukas and his eyes widened with guilt and embarrassment, his cheeks turning pink. "Oh! Um…."

"No, don't apologize." Lukas interrupted, trying to smile. "What they did was wrong and stupid, so you deserve to be upset. I'm still pretty mad at them, too, so don't worry about me."

"Oh, I was just going to say, though, look at it on the bright side! At least they ditched you early on, so you don't have to rot in jail with those losers." Jesse, Olivia and Petra gasped in shock. Lukas grunted softly as if he'd been punched in the gut. Ivor just nodded in agreement.

"Well, _that_ is… an interesting way to think about it." Lukas muttered.

"You know what? Why don't we talk about something _else_?" Petra asked stiffly.

"Yeah. What other adventures did you guys go on?" Olivia asked. Jesse sighed inwardly. If only he had better things to tell them about. And if only he was even awake to tell them. He was standing there with them, but his brain had drifted off some time ago. He looked at his feet to think.

"So, there was a killer mansion, killer robots and gladiator games. Petra and Lukas were killed, actually." When Jesse looked up, Olivia and Axel's faces were thoroughly caked with surprise and disgust. Axel glanced at Lukas, cautiously stuck his hand out and started rubbing Lukas's blonde hair like he was using shampoo.

"What are you doing?" Lukas asked, too stunned to move.

"Hang on." Axel moved and pinched Lukas on the arm, making him yelp in pain. He caught on to Axel's new behavior and scowled, rubbing his arm.

"Ow! I'm not a ghost, thank you!" Lukas declared.

"You two _died_?" Olivia asked. Jesse chuckled, remembering how relieved he was to see Petra and Lukas respawn behind that fence. The surprise still on Olivia's face added to his amusement.

"Crazy, I know." Petra said. The oven dinged and caught their attention. Olivia put on some mittens and opened it, pulling out a yellow cake.

"Alright, Axel. You can take out the icing so we can ice the cake."

Axel shuffled nervously and grinned. "Oh, while you two were chatting, Lukas and I had some."

"Yeah… most of it, he means." He smiled, using his "Cute-Face" to his best advantage. Olivia groaned and rolled her eyes as she dropped the cake onto a glass plate.

"Well, at least you two are getting along." She said. She took the cake to the table and the others followed and took a seat. It didn't take long for her to slice it up and hand out a piece to everyone. While Axel enjoyed his, she noticed the others weren't so eager to eat, but decided not to question it. Maybe it looked too good to eat.

"So, now it's your turn to talk. What did you guys do to the town?" Jesse asked, taking a tiny nibble of his cake. Olivia beamed excitedly, ready to tell them about the improvements she'd made with her new knowledge of Redstone.

"Well, I noticed that the lights system wasn't very efficient. Most of it was either lever-powered, or daylight-sensor powered. The daylight sensors would've been okay, but there were just too many of them, which was bad when multiples broke. So, I started working on a plan to connect all of the Redstone lamps to the smallest number of sensors possible per city, and—" Her joyous face fell into a furious scowl when Ivor's head suddenly crashed into his cake and he unleashed a roar of a snore that made Lukas flinch. "Seriously?!" She shouted hurtfully.

"Olivia! Olivia, calm down. I'm sure he doesn't think your story's boring. He's just," Lukas hesitated and looked him over, "old." A loud clank made him flinch again, and he looked to see Petra had taken the plunge right next to him. Her snores absorbed into the cake.

"Oh, and she's old, too?" Olivia fussed. "If you guys are so bored of Redstone, why don't you just tell me? You don't have to go all out to let me know." She folded her arms and turned away.

"Olivia, they're just tired, okay? That's why none of us are eating our cake. We've been through a lot." Jesse reached across the table and shook Petra awake. She slowly sat up, snorting through clods of cake. Jesse then woke Ivor up. When he sat up, they hoped he'd go and wash out his beard soon with the warm cake smeared all over it. "Petra, Ivor, you two fell asleep while Olivia was talking about Redstone." Jesse said, sending both of them (especially Petra) a knowing stare. Petra's sleepy face turned into a wide-eyed stare directed towards Olivia.

"Oh my gosh. I am _so_ sorry, Olivia! I didn't mean anything by it. I swear."

"Yes. I didn't fall asleep because Redstone is boring. I fell asleep because I was tired… but I don't like talking about Redstone anyways." Ivor said, laying his head back down to go to sleep.

"Try to ignore him." Petra advised. She stretched her arms. "So, what were you saying again?"

Olivia tried, but she couldn't seem to cheer herself up. Whether they stated it or not, she always had this presumption that no one wanted to hear about her Redstone. It was true that Petra and (maybe) Ivor didn't mean anything by it, but it still hurt. "No, it's alright. You don't have to listen." She looked the four of them over and managed a weak smile. "You guys look tired, anyways. You should take a nap. Axel and I will clean the kitchen out." She smirked. "And you should probably clean your faces."

"Noted." Petra said, wiping away some of the cake. She stood from the table, followed by Lukas and then Jesse. "I guess I'll head home to take a nap."

"You mean to that cave? No way! Besides, you'll probably fall asleep on the road or something. Stay here. You can use my room." Olivia said.

"And you can use mine, and Ivor if he wants." Axel said to Lukas.

With their plans set out, the four of them went to bed. When Jesse hit his pillows, he immediately fell asleep despite his unfamiliar surroundings. The bed was soft and cool, and the lighting was bright enough to keep away nightmares, yet dim enough to allow sleep. His new bedroom had a blue theme to it, well-suited for him since his favorite color was blue.

Petra was glad she didn't have to get used to Olivia's Redstone-themed room. The bright colors didn't manage to keep her up, though, and falling asleep twice wasn't a problem.

"Are you sure you don't want the bed?" Lukas asked Ivor as they stood in Axel's green-themed room. Thankfully, the theme didn't include too much of the overwhelming shades of green, only weaker ones like mint.

"I'm positive, Blonde Guy." Ivor said from his cot on the floor.

"It's Lukas." He said as he climbed into the large bed and pulled the covers over his face. The bed was larger than a normal one, and there was enough room for him and Ivor to share it, but that was a terrible idea for more reasons than fifty. They both drifted off within minutes.

Downstairs, Axel idled around while Olivia did most of the work cleaning the kitchen. "Isn't it good to have them back?"

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure it'll be better when they're actually awake to talk to." He said, flipping the page of a book. "I can't believe Aiden went to all those lengths to kill Jesse and the guys. Sounds crazy!"

"Yeah, but maybe you shouldn't talk about that in front of Lukas." She said, trying to forget Axel's 'interesting way of thinking' from earlier as she scrubbed the caked flour off the counters. Axel yawned and put his book down, standing from the table.

"Seems tiredness is contagious. Watching them being so tired made _me_ feel tired." He said as he walked up the stairs. Olivia watched him go with a hint of spite. Why'd he always leave her to clean the kitchen? He'd enjoyed that cake for sure (and eventually Petra's, Ivor's, Lukas's and Jesse's), but he couldn't stay down to clean. She smirked a bit. Maybe she'd give him some form of payback later.

Axel walked into his bedroom and yawned. But when he saw his empty bed, a grin crossed his face. There was one thing cool about having such a huge bed all to himself: He could jump on it without it breaking.

 _Time to go to bed with a crash!_ He thought, bending his knees to prepare for the jump. He soared the length from the door to the bed, but when he landed on the bed it cried out. He himself screamed, stumbling backwards and falling over. He was surprised when Lukas sat up in the bed, a frazzled but angry glare on his face.

"Really?! When are you _not_ falling on me?!" He shouted.

"What are you doing in my bed?"

"You told me I could sleep here! Remember?!"

Axel's blank mind suddenly refilled with that memory and he grinned sheepishly. "Um… well, just look at it on the bright side. At least—"

"Don't."

"… you know you have an unbreakable back."

Silence filled the room as Lukas glared at him. "I can't even—"

* * *

 ***sighs* There's the finale. I was planning on doing some way funnier stuff with this, but my time was cut EXTREMELY short, and quite unexpectedly if I may add. But here you are. Couldn't end the season without Axel falling on Lukas again. See you in season 2, readers and fellow writers! Close it, Crisper! Close it with fireworks!**

 **Crisper: (closes it with fireworks)**


End file.
